radicalducati Chapter 55
Chapter 55
Adolphus’s POV
The instant I reached the hut, the air around me shifted.
Something was wrong.
The door was cracked open, swaying lazily with the breeze. Just enough to creak. Just enough to unsettle. My pulse kicked up.
Every instinct in me, the soldier, the wolf, the man, screamed that something was off. My steps slowed, weight shifting forward as I scanned the clearing.
Too quiet.
No sound of movement. No flicker of light from inside. No trace of Katrina’s presence.
I stepped forward cautiously, shoulders tense, eyes narrowing. My fingers inched toward the dagger at my belt but it was too late.
A force slammed into my back, hard enough to knock the wind from my lungs. My body lurched forward, and before I could fully turn, hands clamped down, rough, coordinated, trained. More joined in. I fought on instinct, twisting violently, but I couldn’t break free. They were prepared for this.
Alpha’s guards.
Three of them, no, four.
I grunted as they wrenched my arms behind my back, one hand digging into my wrist, the other pressing down on my shoulder until my knees buckled under the weight. My face twisted in fury.
“What the hell—” I growled, teeth bared, muscles coiling with tension.
“Orders from the Alpha,” one of them snapped, his grip tightening. “You’re coming with us.”
I froze for a beat..
I stopped resisting, not because I couldn’t fight them off, but because I knew the trap had already been set. I needed to see it through. I needed to know what she was planning. And if they were dragging me back to the palace, then I was walking straight into the heart of it.
They shoved me forward, out of the clearing and down the path. The darkened streets passed in a blur of shadow and flickering torchlight.
Every step fueled the fire rising in my chest. I could hear my own breathing, measured, slow, deliberate, as I forced myself to stay calm.
Anger wouldn’t help me here. Not yet.
As we neared the palace, the atmosphere changed.
The soft notes of music drifted toward us, light and festive. Laughter spilled out from open archways. Candlelight flickered from every window, casting golden hues across the cobblestone. The scent of roasted meat, spiced wine, and burning incense thickened the air.
The entire place was alive.
Decorated in garish splendor, crimson and gold banners draped across pillars, crystal chandeliers hanging from every archway, petals scattered like offerings underfoot.
A celebration.
The realization hit hard and fast.
She’s throwing a party.
She believed she had the Lunar Flame. She believed she could crown herself queen, my mate, before anyone could stop her. And she was going to make it public. Make it impossible to reverse.
Fury burned hotter in my chest.
Over my dead body.
We entered through the main gates, bypassing the grand hall entirely. The guards didn’t say a word as they led me down the corridor, through velvet-draped archways and past nobles who paused mid-sentence to glance at me with wide, curious eyes.
They knew. Or thought they did.
The throne room doors loomed ahead, tall, gleaming, carved with the crest of the Alpha’s line. The guards pushed them open.
My boots echoed against the polished marble as they forced me in.
At the far end of the room, she waited.
Cassandra.
She stood beneath the chandelier’s glow, bathed in soft golden light. Her silver gown shimmered with every subtle movement, clinging to her figure like it had been made for this moment. Her dark hair was swept back into an intricate braid, jeweled pins glittering at her temples. She looked serene. Composed. Regal.
Everything she had ever wanted.
Her lips curled into a slow, deliberate smile. Eyes sharp, unreadable. Confident.
“Adolphus,” she said, her voice like silk over a blade. “Right on time.”
I didn’t speak. I didn’t bow. I met her gaze with the steady, cold weight of my silence.
She wanted a spectacle. She wanted to parade me before the kingdom as hers. But I wasn’t going to play the part she’d written for me.
Not anymore.